Re: plutonium

[Tom Mohaupt <tmohaupt@wright.edu>]

Fellow RadSafers:

The philosophical debate on the toxicity of plutonium has been 
intriguing.  We know it can't be the most toxic substance known to 
mankind from simple reference to Voelz's paper in this month's Health 
Physics.  Actually, Voelz's paper questions the basic tenet of claim 
to plutonium's toxicity.  My questions are:
How many people have measured concentrations of plutonium in their 
bodies?  Voelz reported on 26.  Are there many more?
How many people have died from plutonium poisoning?
  {I use poisoing to account for radio or chemical toxic effects."
How many suffered acute sickness, but recovered?
How many excess cancers have there been?
What percentage showed no sign of harm?
I know it may be too early to answer some of these questions.  I'm 
sure someone has the data, and solid data is the answer to any 
philosophical question.

Tom Mohaupt, M.S., CHP
Wright State University
{The opinions are my own, and may not represent the views of my 
employer.}